CHIEF HASN'T ADDRESSED VPD'S BIGGER PROBLEMS

Jamie Graham's response is a good step, but what more will he do about
department dysfunction?

Vancouver police chief Jamie Graham fired two officers, disciplined
four others and issued a mea culpa Wednesday but I think his attempt
at damage control fell short of what is needed.

Graham said he wished "to apologize to the citizens of Vancouver if
any of the deplorable actions of any of my police officers have in any
way shaken their faith in the Vancouver police."

His decision, however, seems to me to deal only with this specific
case of brutality and sidestep the larger issue of public confidence
in the department.

I commend Graham for the way he has parsed this problem but question
his commitment to resolving the rest of the rot that appears to run
through his command.

For as singular as the chief might like us to consider these Starlight
Tours, they are not the sole blemish.

This is a force that has been battered over the last decade by
unseemly accusations, a revolving door in the chief's office and an
image that is in tatters.

I could cite a litany of embarrassments: the senior detective
suspected of recreational sex-and-drug sprees, the spokesman revealed
to be sexist, the more than 60 women allowed to vanish with little
investigation, yet another 50 individuals claiming they were roughed
up by officers, the riot at the Hyatt, a neighbourhood allowed to
decay into one of the worst open-air drug markets on the planet....

Need I go on?

The six officers in this case -- who picked up three petty criminals
and terrorized them in Stanley Park -- pleaded guilty in provincial
court to assault.

They were sentenced earlier this month to various punishments ranging
from house arrest to an absolute discharge.

It fell to Graham to mete out professional discipline and he concluded
Constable Duncan Gemmell and Constable Gabriel Kojima should be fired.

Graham said Gemmel's misbehaviour -- he delivered the first blow and
later submitted a false police report -- "goes right to the core of
judgment, truthfulness and integrity. [And] I want to send a message
to all that there can be no justification for this type of conduct."

He punted Kojima because he was the only officer to use his baton on
the miscreants.

Like the court, Graham has parsed the offence on the grounds that the
force's code of professional conduct requires him to consider whether
the men can be rehabilitated.

The chief decided the remaining four could once again become good
officers and handed them 20-day suspensions without pay -- the maximum
allowed.

Three of the officers, Constable Jim Kenny, Constable Brandon Steele
and Constable Raymond Gardner, will be demoted.

Graham noted Kenny, acting sergeant in charge at the time, did not
take part in the abuse of the three drug dealers but also did nothing
to stop it.

At court, Gemmell was sentenced to 60 days of house arrest and six
months' probation.

Kojima was given a month's house arrest and six months of
probation.

Gardner was handed a nine-month suspended sentence and ordered to
perform 50 hours of community service. Steele received a suspended
sentence and six months probation.

Kenny got an absolute discharge.

Constable Christopher Cronmiller, the most junior officer, received a
conditional discharge along with six months' probation.

Cronmiller and Kenny were spared criminal records.

I think Graham's decision here appears to be a good one that reflects
each officer's culpability -- but I would like to know what he plans
to do about the larger cloud hanging over the VPD.

Every big city police force runs into problems from time to time.
Policing is a difficult job and not every mistake requires a public
inquiry.

I truly believe the current chief, who is not long in the saddle,
happens to be doing a pretty good job and I'm a supporter of the vast
majority of his officers.

But I also think we have reached a critical mass in terms of public
anxiety over dysfunction within the VPD.

I do not think Graham's reassurances are enough to dispel the concerns
that hang over the predominantly white, predominantly male force. I
suggest that this latest outrage and the other charges levelled
against the VPD require it to re-establish trust with the community.

Changes are needed and I believe the only way they can be won is
through some kind of public process that ensures transparency and the
results the people of Vancouver deserve.

TWO TALES OF THE STANLEY PARK BEATINGS

When six officers pleaded guilty in November to assaulting Barry Lawrie,
Jason Desjardins and Grant Wilson in Stanley Park on Jan. 14, 2003, Crown
prosecutors dropped charges of obstruction of justice and assault with a
weapon. Crown counsel and defence lawyers presented an agreed "statement of
facts" to Judge Herb Weitzel that he used to sentence the officers. However,
that statement of facts is significantly tamer than the account of the
assault given by Constable Troy Peters, the whistleblower who first alerted
the department to the incident. Peters' account is contained in the
disciplinary report made public Wednesday. Below is a comparison of how the
two accounts differ in their description of the conduct of the so-called
Stanley Park Six: Constables Christopher Cronmiller, Raymond Gardner, Duncan
Gemmell, James Kenney, Gabriel Kojima and Brandon Steele.

1: STATEMENT OF FACTS:

"P.C. Gardner shone his flashlight at Lawrie, and began to berate him
on the effects his criminal activities were having on the community
around Granville Street. ... P.C. Steele participated in the berating
of Lawrie."

PETERS:

Peters said Kojima called Lawrie "scum" while Gardner called him a
"piece of shit."

2: STATEMENT OF FACTS:

"P.C. Kojima contacted Desjardins with his police-issue baton in the
vicinity of his knee."

PETERS:

Peters said he saw Kojima take out his baton. He said he also saw
Kojima kicking Desjardins as he laid on the ground. "I remember him
kind of ... kicking his head around similar to what a young kid would
do with a soccer ball in between his feet."

3: STATEMENT OF FACTS:

"Wilson was then verbally berated by P.C. Steele."

PETERS:

Peters said Steele was "just kind of screaming" and yelling at Wilson: "Who
owns Granville Street? Who owns Granville Street?"

4. STATEMENT OF FACTS:

"Steele ... punched [Wilson] once in the upper body. P.C. Gardner
shoved Wilson once or twice in the upper chest area. P.C. Kojima
grabbed and pulled Wilson. At some point, P.C. Kojima prodded Wilson
with the instep of his boot. Wilson left the scene. As a result of the
incident, Wilson received three minor abrasions to his forehead."

PETERS:

As Wilson, the last of the three men assaulted, made his way out of
the police wagon, the officers were "getting more intense ... getting
agitated .. up on the balls of their feet," Peters said. As the
officers began hitting Wilson, Peters said he "just kind of looked the
other way and listened to the screams." He said Wilson walked away
clutching his torso.

5. STATEMENT OF FACTS:

"All 7 police officers attended a debriefing meeting in a 5th floor
boardroom at 2120 Cambie Street. The police officers discussed what
had happened earlier that morning at 3rd Beach."PETERS:

The disciplinary hearing report describes Peters' account of that
meeting as follows: "Each participant had a chance to speak with
Constable Kenney going first, apologizing to Constables Peters and
Cronmiller for having put them in 'that position.' ... Constable
Kenney suggested that this incident should not be talked about with
others, that it should stay in house. There was also some talk that
this incident could be detrimental to people's careers and there could
be repercussions."